W.21 * First Officer  Audrey Evelyn Macmillan 

flag scotland

 b. 11 May 1915, Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire 26 Jun 1940 to 31 Aug 1945 

 Audrey Macmillan 1934  RAeC 1934      

 

Father: Hugh Miller Macmillan, a shipbuilder

Address in 1934: Ferniegar, Helensburgh


Postings: 15FPP, 5FPP, 1FPP

One of the ATA's 'two Audreys' [along with Audrey Sale-Barker]

Veronica Innes says that "Audrey had an adorable white pekinese puppy, named Wun Wing Lo, which she used to carry around in a parachute pack. He must have been the most air-minded dog of his generation."

Mary du Bunsen says "The two Audreys, who were very good pilots, had a special line of feminine vapours. "My dear," one or the other would exclaim in the mess, "I've got my first Hudson (or Mitchell, or whatever it might be) and I know I shall crash and I've got a pain (cold, temperature, etc)". And they would totter out, leaving a trail of handkerchiefs, lipsticks, handbags, etc., which would be picked up by willing (male) hands. They would then fly whatever it was superbly to its destination, where they would be assisted out of the aeroplane and the same pantomime would take place. " 

 At least 5 accidents, 1 her fault:

- 28-Nov-42, she collided with a petrol drum while taxying in Fairchild EV809

- 15-Jan-43, a forced landing in Mosquito IV DZ427 after a hydraulic failure meant the undercarriage would not retract

 - 5-Aug-43, the tail wheel of her Argus HM182 collapsed whilst taxying

- 11-Nov-43, she bent the undercarriage of Mosquito VI LR291 during a crosswind landing

 - 24-Dec-43, another Mosquito, another undercarriage problem: Mosquito XVI MM277's undercarriage collapsed on landing. The previous pilot (who happened to be Senior Commander Philip Wills, the Head of the Accidents Section of ATA), had made a heavy landing earlier but not reported it - he was blamed.


m. 1944 in Glasgow, Neil Campbell Mackenzie (divorced, 1 daughter b. 1946)

 

In October 1947, she was an early recruit for the newly-formed WAAFVR:

ata_audrey_mackenzie_1947.jpg  The Scotsman

 

m. 1952 in Dunbartonshire, Sir Philip Lee Brocklehurst [b. 1887; he had been a member of the Nimrod Expedition in Antarctica of 1907–1909, led by Ernest Shackleton] and became Lady Brocklehurst

They lived at 15 Belgrave Mews South, London SW1, and Swythamley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire.

"By all accounts, she never really settled in Swythamley. At one point she tried in vain to rescue her father's ship-building business and finally ended up living in London." - Swythamley Historical Society, via Alan Weeks

 c. 1963, at the Women of the Year Luncheon (The Times)

Sir Philip d. 28 Jan 1975

 

d. 13 Aug 1975 - St Marylebone, London, leaving £350,323

 

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